On Friday , George Washington was finally honored withhis own presidential librarynear his Mount Vernon estate after a 216 yr time lag ( Bill Clinton ’s open a simple four year after he result office back in 2004 ) . Though the vault will only be accessible to visiting scholars and researchers , the historical new facility does gambol a wealthiness of fascinating token . Here are seven of the most interesting .
1. A Farm Report Written By His Nephew
George Augustine Washington , son of the president ’s brother Charles , wasasked to sham control of Mount Vernon ’s farmsin 1786 . The papers in enquiry was composed in August , 1790 .
2. Wood From A 300-Year-Old Tree
The American great maple , which was downed to provide some of the establishment ’s trim , is of particular significance to building director Douglas Bradburn because , in his words , “ It was alive at the same time as Washington . ”
3. Washington’s Copy of The Acts of Congress… Complete With Handwritten Notes!
Previously , this remarkable papers contain , among other things , his copy of the Constitution ( into which the owner scribble personal commentary on the margins ) , had been impart toother presidential librariessuch as those of Kennedy and Reagan .
4. Washington’s Copy of Don Quixote
render as a natural endowment in 1785 by a Spanish diplomat named Don Diego de Gardoqui , the playscript is write only in Spanish . Washington could n’t translate Spanish , and the four - mass setappears to have been rarely - give .
5. Washington’s Copy of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”
For more on Washington ’s mercurial family relationship with Paine ( which grew cold later in biography ) , do gohere .
6. Washington’s Copy ofA New System of Husbandry
compose by Charles Varlo in 1770 , Washington develop enamored with the comprehensive agricultural guidebook andcopied a number of the botanical experimentsprescribed therein .
7. Massive Busts of Hamilton, Jefferson, and Other Founding Fathers
Washington and his Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton shared along professional partnershipspanning several decades … in fact , the last letter Washington ever wrote was address to his former aide , in which hecomplimented Hamilton ’s supportfor the universe of a home military academy . Jefferson , on the other mitt , wasn’t always so warmly - reckon by our first president , who reckon his often take issue opinions as “ unpatriotic . "
